Sled



w. E. KIDDER 920,866

SLED

Filed June 23, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOIR Y win/m2 Ilia dd BYTTORNEYS W. E. KIDDER SLED Aug. 1, 1933.

Filed June 23, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 dwm R? E mw N N/. R mimm W5 A w W IAug. 1, 1933. w. E. KIDDER v 1,920,866

SLED

INVENTOR 1 insection on line io-re r Fig. 3 showing the position of" theparts mm the runners flexed to Patented Aug. 1, 1933 rarest orgies SLEDWilliam Kidder, Kalamazoo, Mich, assignor to Kalamazoo Sled Company,liialamazoo, Mich.

Application rune 23,1930. Serial "Nd-462,999

'5 Claims." (Cl. 2802Z) The main objects of this invention are:

First, to. provide a hand sled of the so-called steering type in which aportion of the runners carrying the load may :he'easily deflected orcurved thereby resulting in a positive steering of the sled on ice orother hard surface.

Second, to provide in a steering sled an improved arrangement of partswhich results in a very positive control of "the: sled, enabling theturning'th'ereof ina relativelyshort distance.

Third, to provide a sled "having these advantages which may hemanipulated with. a minimum of effort on the part of the user and with amhlimum of strain on the parts.

Fourth; to provide in a sled having these advantages a 'lmee'construction which is well adapted to-withstand the steering strains andat the same timers comparatively light and rigid. -Objeets relating todetailskand economiesof my irrventi'on'will appear-from the descriptionto follow; The invention is defined and pointed out in'the claims. I

: A structure which is a preferred embodiment of my invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawings; inwhich: I Fig. lis :a sideelevation of my improvedsled. Fig; 2 is an inverted view with therunners in straight or normalposition. j

Fig. 3 is an inverted view with the runnersdefie'cted. Fig. 4 is .an

Fig. '8' is a fragmentary View mainly in sec Fig/9 is an enlargedfragmentary side 'eleva-- tion showing "structural details of myimproved knee. v Fig. 9'A is a fragmentary section on line :QA QAfFig-Qn" I Fig. clean-enlarged fragmentary view' mainly the position.showingth'ereinx I Fig. 11" is an enlarged ifragrnentary view mainly insectionlonline 'll-''1l-ofFig. 2. Fig. 12 isan inverted view of amodifiedstruce ture embodying certain features of my invention.

'Referringto the drawings; the runners l'are inverted fragmentary Viewwith therunners deflected to their extreme position.

. '23 disposed at each. side thereof.

boards are fixed to the as by the fastenings preferably of T-cr'osssection, their front rends Ebeing curved upwardly and connected by thecross bar 12, the cross bar andrunners beingconn'ected by the pivots 3;1

I provide pairs of front, intermediate and rear knees 4, 5an'd'firespectively. These knees comprise downwardly diverging legportionsfl-fand inwardly projecting brackets providing seats for thebenches 8. f

The raves 9 are mounted upon the outer ends .of the benches hymeans ofrivets 10,11 and 12.

Though thesev rivets are :similar. they are given separate numerals tofacilitate pointing out their relation to other parts. The knees 4 areprovided with transverse slots 13 and l l, the slots 14 engaging therivets .10 thereby providing a pivotaland sliding *connec tion.Headed'studs '15 engage the inner slots =13 providing a swingingconnection for the inner ends of the knees to the benches.

The brackets or knees 5 are provided" with longitudinal slots 'ldand I7,the rivets 'll :en-

gaging the slots '17 while headed studs on the intermediate bench engagethe slots 1'6. f

, The rear knees 6:have pivot holes 1 9 engaged by the rivets l2 andtransverse s'lots'20 in the inner ends of the knee brackets engaged bythe headed studs 2-1 of the rear bench.-

conneotion transversely orthe sled to" the" intermediate bench whiletherear knees have a formed of the center board '22 and the boards Thesetop Links 25 are engaged with the riv'ets 1 0 and 3, 7 these links;constituting 'in effect ex tens'i'ons .sfor the raves although pivotallyconnected thereto.'

lhe steering bar 26 is rigidly mountedon'th'e steering lever 2'7 whichhas a. longitudinal slot 28 at its forward endfengag'ing with 'the o entrally disposed pivot 29 on the cross bar 2 and a'flongitudinal slot 30in its rear' end engaging with'a pivot 31 on the forwardly projectingend 32 of the center board'22;

. It will be noted that with the parts in normal "With thisconnectionthe 'ci'ront knees have a sliding and gpivotal connection to'the r bench: the intermediate knees "have" a sliding front and rearbenches I its position as best shown in Fig. 2, the pivot 31 engages orlies at the outer end of the slot while the pivot 29 engages or lies atthe inner end of the slot 28 and when the runners are deflected toapproximately the limit of their deflection as shown in Fig. 4 theposition of the pivots relative to the slots is reversed; that is, thepivot 31 is at the inner end of the slot 30 while the pivot 29 is at theouter end of .the slot ends they closely. embrace the-upwardly projecting. web 34 of 'the' runners, thelegs being notched at 35 to receivethis web and being secured thereto by the rivets 36-.

1 The flanges 33,.as'stated, are continued to the ends of the legs andrest uponthe upper sides of the runners asshown in Fig. 9. These flanges33 serve as reinforcing-members for the legs and also bracing memberstherefor; that is, be ing in contact with the upper sides of therunners, the flanges sustain a substantial portion of the twistingthrust- Thisxpermit's the legs beingamade of-relatively light'materialand at .the same time they are capable of withstanding the severestrains to which they are subjected in use..." m. 1

In Fig. 12, I illustrate myfsteering leverimproyements in a modifiedform of sled in which the front and rear knees 3'7 are. pivoted at 38and providedwith-transverse slots 39 engaging the headed studs 40. Theintermediate knees are omittedand the front knees have, only the'pivotalmovement as distinguished from. the pivotal and sliding movementof thexembodiment of my;.invention shown in theother, Figures. Myimproved steeringlever,however; is

advantageousfor use in this modified form or adaptation of my,improvements.

To reduce friction between the knees and the benches I insert washers41'between these parts.

These washers also reduce the tendency to squeak andcreak a r j I haveillustrated and described my improvements in very practical embodimentsthereof. The load carrying portions of the runners are deflected, sothat the steering-is; very effective, and further, there are norelatively sharp bends in-the runners but: the curvature extendsthroughoutthe length thereof which renders the steering of .thesledmuchmore reliablethan is possible in structures not having thesefeaturesaandhthe sled may be turned ina much shorter radius than wouldotherwise bepossible. 1 Y I have notattempted to-illustrate or describeother embodiments or adaptations as I believe this disclosure-willenable those skilled in the art to embody or adapt my improvements asmay be desired.- I r .Having thus described my invention, what Ii claimvas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a hand sled, the combination of flexible.

runners, opposed pairsof front, rear and intermediate knees secured tosaid runners; the front knees each having longitudinally spacedtransverse slots therein, the intermediate knees each having spacedlongitudinal slots therein and the rear knees having pivot holes attheir outer ends and transverse slots at their inner ends, benchesarranged on said knees, raves disposed on the outer ends of saidbenches, said knees, benches and raves being connected by rivetsdisposedthrough the outer slots in said front and intermediate knees andthe pivot holes of the rear knees, headed studsdisposed through saidslots in the inner ends of said knees to engage said benches, a topsecured to said benches, a cross bar connecting the front ends of saidrunners,

links pivotally connected to the ends of said cross bar and to the frontbench, a steering lever provided with longitudinal slots at its ends,said top and cross bar being provided with pivots engaging said slots,and a steering bar on said steering lever.

2. In a hand sled, the combination with a top and front, rear andintermediate benches, of runners, front,'rear andintermediate kneessecured to, saidrunners, the front knees each having longitudinallyspaced tiansverse slots therein, the intermediate knees each havinglongitudinally spaced longitudinal slots therein, and the rear kneeshaving pivot holes at their outer ends and transverse slots'at theirinner ends, said knees being secured to said benches by fasteningsengaging said slots and pivot holes, a cross bar connected tothe frontends of said runners, av steering lever provided with long! tudinalslots at its ends, said top and cross bar being provided with pivotsengaging said slots, and a. steering bar on said steering lever.

3. In a hand, sled, the combination with runnersof T-cross section, of atop, knees having downwardly diverging legs of channel crosssectionprovided withoutwardly projecting flanges on their edgesextending to'the bottoms thereof, the lower ends of the legs beingforked to receive the upwardly projecting central web'.- of the runnersand provide attaching ears, and rivets arranged through said attachingears and the upwardly projecting .webs of the runners, the

. lower ends of the flanges being in abutting supporting engagement withthe horizontal members of the runners.

4:. In a hand sled, the combination with runners of .T-cross section, ofa top, knees having downwardly diverging legs of channel cross'sectionprovided with outwardly projecting flanges on their edges extending tothe bottoms thereof,

the lower ends of the legs being forked to reccivej the upwardlyprojecting central web of the runners and provide attaching ears, andrivets arranged through said attaching ears and the upwardly projecting:webs of. the runners.

5. Ina sled, the combination of runners of inverted T-section, kneeshaving downwardly diverging legs of inverted U-section receiving thevertical, runner flange at theirlower ends,-the web of the leg channelengaging the top of said vertical runner flange and the flanges of theleg channel overlapping said vertical runner flange and engaging thehorizontal runner flanges, and

..means securing said vertical runner flange and leg flanges andtogether iniassembled relation, said leg flanges having marginalout-turned reinfo'rcing flanges extending to the ends thereof andengaging said horizontalrunner flanges.

WILLIAM E. KIDDER.

